Heroic sergeant saves girl trapped in swimming pool by cutting off her hair

A POLICEMAN saved a young girl’s life by hacking off her hair when it became tangled in a suction valve at the bottom of a swimming pool.

Sergeant Dave Sutton, 56, saved a girls life by cutting her hair to free her [CASCADE]

Sergeant Dave Sutton, 56, dived in and used scissors to cut eight-year-old Delfina Alberdi free while on holiday in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

He then dragged her to the pool side and gave her the kiss-of-life.

“When we brought her up she was blue,” he said. “There was no pulse and she wasn’t breathing. Cutting her hair underwater was so hard. It was hard to stay down.”

Delfina, who was on a family holiday from Norway, was airlifted to hospital and put in an induced coma but went on to make a miraculous recovery.

When Sgt Sutton got home he received an email from her grateful father Fernando, with a picture of Delfina holding a thank you note.

Fernando told the brave officer he was “an angel”.

He added: “There isn’t any way to thank you for what you did.”

Sgt Sutton, who lives in Kent and works in Croydon, south London, was with his wife by their hotel pool when the drama began on August 6.

When his wife alerted him that a child had been under the water for too long, he dived in – but was unable to pull the girl free.

Sgt Sutton then realised she had her long hair caught in an induction inlet for the pool’s filtration system. He surfaced again and shouted for something to free her with.

Rescued girl Delfina Alberdi, 8, from Norway

There was no pulse and she wasn’t breathing. Cutting her hair underwater was so hard. It was hard to stay down

Sergeant Dave Sutton

He was handed shearing scissors and, after several attempts, managed to cut Delfina’s hair from the filter.

The girl appeared lifeless when he lifted her from the pool.

He directed a hotel staff member to begin CPR while he performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

After 10 minutes an ambulance took her to hospital. She was later flown to the Croatian capital, Split.

Sgt Sutton, who has been a policeman for 35 years, is to be nominated for a Royal Humane Society Award by colleagues. But the modest officer denied being a hero, saying: “I was just doing my job to the best of my ability. If the girl has anything to thank it is Met Police training. I just put into practice what I was taught.”

He added: “She had been underwater for some time. I’m not sure she would have survived had we had to wait for the ambulance to begin CPR.

“When paramedics arrived she had begun shallow breathing. The fact she made a full recovery is amazing. I was thrilled when I heard from her.”